The sky’s not falling and it’s not time to reach for the panic button – yet.

But playoff-starved Panthers fans might want to keep an eye out for Chicken Little and get those itchy fingers ready just in case.

The Panthers, possibly on the cusp of a 2011 Boston Red Sox-like collapse or more appropriate the 2007-08 Carolina Hurricanes, were jolted 4-1 by the Columbus Blue Jackets – inarguably the worst team in hockey – Friday night at Nationwide Arena.

They couldn’t beat much-traveled rookie Allen York, 22, who was making his third career start Friday night at Nationwide Arena.

They were also done in by defenseman Nikita Nikitin, who had an assist and the first multiple-goal game of his fledgling career.

Hide the razor blades.

The only team in NHL history to lead their division with five games left and not make the playoffs were the 2007-08 Hurricanes.

So far.

The Panthers, losers of five of their last six – all against non-playoff teams – have 90 points and still lead the idle Capitals by four points with both teams having four games remaining.

“We got points in 10 of 12, let’s spin stats. That’s not my game. We don’t do that,” said Panthers coach Kevin Dineen after a long post-game chat with his tight team. “It’s still going to be throttled down to the end of the season.

“We look forward to playing games that matter, to be relevant this time of year. We got to take care of the things we can control, the rest and nutrition part, that plays into that anxious feeling.”

Any combination of five points gained by the Panthers or lost by the Caps would clinch Florida’s first-ever Southeast Division title.

“We beat ourselves tonight and at the end of the game last night,” said Panthers forward Scottie Upshall. “They’re riding high from their goalie. … This time of year no matter how you play it’s tough, whether it’s a team that’s hunting for a playoff spot and gives you their best or a team that’s out of it and guys are fighting for their keep.”

Trailing 2-0 after two, the fatal shot came at 3:01 of the third on a marshmallow wrister from Nikitin that slithered between Jose Theodore’s legs to set off another loud boom from the Blue Jackets’ Civil War cannon that was seemingly pointed right at the Panthers.

However, the never-say-quit Panthers made it 3-1 when Tomas Kopecky swatted in a rebound of defenseman Brian Campbell’s shot at 7:57.

Seconds later, York just got a piece of defenseman Dmitry Kulikov’s blast that would’ve made it a one-goal deficit with time to spare.

RJ Umberger rubbed it in with an empty-netter with 48 ticks left, his second of the game, to set off that blasted cannon again.

“You got to trust each other and play,” Campbell said. “You can’t play scared. Nobody’s a good player playing that way.

“We got four games left to pour it on. Everybody knows what’s at stake.”

The Blue Jackets took an early 1-0 lead on a 2-on-1 fast break, but instead of Magic Johnson leading it, Umberger played keepaway with Derick Brassard, before Umberger stuffed it into a vacated net at 3:41.

The Panthers couldn’t score on three first-period power plays, including a two-man advantage for 1:31, against the 30th-ranked PK unit. They took turns pelting York (30 saves) but came away empty to trail 1-0 after one despite outshooting the Blue Jackets 15-6.

“Goalie played well. I always feel you don’t get that 5-on-3 goal it makes it hard when you have that long 5-on-3 and we had some pretty quality opportunities there,” Dineen said. “He made some good saves and I think some pucks hit him.”

The Panthers, perhaps tiring after playing the night before (5-7-2 in second games of back-to-backs) began taking silly penalties, including two too-many-men-on-ice that led to a power-play goal by Nikitin, that snuck through a maze of bodies at 11:48 for a 2-0 bulge after two.

“We looked tired. We looked tight, certainly some coaching mistakes,” Dineen said of the too-many-men on ice penalties. “We move forward from here, get some good rest tonight and recharge the batteries. It’s not like we’re going to pass this thing over. We made some costly mistakes, self-inflicted mistakes, it’s how you react to them.”

It doesn’t get any easier as the Panthers finish the road trip in Detroit on Sunday where they have won one game since the 1996-97 season.

Dineen’s memories

Dineen played the final three seasons of his stellar 19-year NHL career with Columbus, although he played just four game before retiring on Nov. 5, 2002. He also began his front-office career here.

“This is a special spot for me. I enjoyed many fond memories here,” said Dineen, who had 13 goals and 15 assists in 129 games with Columbus. “Anybody that retires you go through; I call it a period of mourning. For me to walk into player development and still work with a lot of young players was

Comments (14 Comments)

This tube of toothpaste is squeezed dry. The only way they get in is by default, and that’s possible as they play in the worst division in the NHL. They are a 70-75 pt team in any other division.

That said, I love hockey and would watch them if they were a last place team. I switched over to watch the Sabres/Pens game after the 3rd goal. What a great effort by both teams. Pens were coming in on a back to back, and played their hearts out and beat a team that has probably been the top team since the break. When I see the pride and effort it only makes me hope the future Panthers will somehow be able to line up and play 3 hard periods. I give credit to DT for making changes, but these guys are just rearranged deck chairs on the Titanic who happened to win or tie many games they could have easily lost.

I’m already looking forward to the draft and free agency. Huberdeau could be the glue we need to be a confident team next year, and hopefully we will see some of the other draft choices give us a reason to believe DT is on the right track.

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PATHETIC game against Columbus, I was expecting a team that lost a heartbreaker the night before to come out with some fire but no the Panthers come out flat as hell give up a goal the first couple minutes of the game which at that point I knew we would loose. I see no passion in this bunch, we are going to get our asses handed to us by Detroit if we don’t come out of the gates ready to play, I would like KD or DT to get in Versteeg’s grill and make him understand that if he wants that long term deal and the money that comes with it to stop chewing on his mouthpiece, stop being a defensive liability and play some hockey, score some goals, or he sits and then gets traded again in the off season, I just hope we see some playoff hockey even though it would be short lived.

Agree with PIZ. How can a team in this position NOT come out flying after blowing a point the night before. Flat from the drop of the puck. Blame KD for this. Can you imagine Tortorella or Blysma or Vigneault making excuses after a game like this? KD sounded as weak as his offense with those post game comments last night.

Agree with Bill Lindsay last night – in watching the Panthers playing DOWN to their opponents. As a life-long Panther fan the last 2 road games have been very discouraging to watch.

And, a brief shot of Craig Ramsay smiling at the end of the bench while chatting with a player during last night’s game with about 4-5 mins. to go summed it up. Not ready for prime time again this year.

first at the start of the season did anyone expect the panthers to be in first place with 4 games to go?

Next, Tallon a lock for executive of the year, no he is not a lock, he is in the running

The panthers are an average team, look at the wins and losses are are 37-41 (counting the shoot out as a loss) so the best we can do is win half our games.

If this team makes the playoffs then it is gravy as the future of this team is not here yet especially at forward.

I don’t see the panthers winning at Detroit or Washington so they have to win the games against the Jets and the Canes which would give the cats 94 points

Washington should beat Montreal, Tampa and the Panthers which leaves the Ranger game, if it means nothing to the rangers I can see Washington winning that game (the rangers would rather play the panthers then Washington in the first round), if Washington wins out that gives them 94 points and they win the tie breaker.

now we are in a fight for the 7th or 8th position. Ottawa has a game in hand and has the hardest schedule, they play the flyers, isles, canes, bruins and devils if they win 2 games then they have 92 points and it goes back to the panthers having to win both home games as Ottawa wins the tie breaker

Buffalo has the leafs twice, the flyers and Burines, they would need to win 3 out of 4 to get to 92 points.

Of course the 3 point games could throw everything off.

The panthers need to get a point tomorrow otherwise I don’t see them winning the division

Either way it has been a fun season as it is the first time in 5 years that we had a NHL caliber team.

Somehow this reminds me of DeBoer’s first season when we missed the playoffs by 1 point.

Even if they make the playoffs I don’t see us getting past the first round and a bonus would be winning one game.

I am not throwing in the towel. For the first time in forever we have a team that is competitive. No one saw this team having a chance. It has been a crazy roller coaster ride. We forget that the VFW was the BEST line in the NHL for a period of time this year. Theo has been graet and Clemmensen has held his own for the most part.

The Panthers will make the playoffs and I still believe they will be the SE Div champs and I will buy a hat and wear it.

I too get frustrated at stupid penalties. The Cats did a remarkable job in the 2nd period killing them. Too many men on the ice drives me crazy. I swear the Panthers must lead the league in that penalty. The reason for that is KD constantly changing up the lines, trying to find the mojo.

Settle down Panther fans, playoff hocky is in our near future. Maybe we should watch the Detroit game with our hats on backwards. Just saying

Who is this team and why can’t they play with any consistency? I just don’t get how you lose 4-1 to the worst team in the league. I know we’ve been offensively inept lately, but Columbus? Seriously? Sheesh.

Poster above said it best – this is an average team. It’s also likely the least talented team looking at the playoffs. The best is yet to come in the future years. No wonder Tallon didn’t make a deadline splash – even he knows this team is not Cup ready so why trade assets?

That worst team in the league (Columbus) is right now playing like one of the best teams in the league. They’ve had a heck of week. Last night they beat St. Louis 5-2, they beat the Panthers 4-1, Detroit 4-2 and before two losses (Oilers & Red Wings) they beat Carolina 5-1. And that unknown defenseman, Nikita Nikitin, is the hottest d-man in the league over the past 14 days, with 3 goals and 6 assists, and in the past 7 days he picked up 2 of those goals and 4 of those assists.

Problem is, right now the best teams are ratcheting up their games and no team is going to roll over, even most of the teams just playing for pride. If Buffalo continues to struggle, the Panthers will owe them a huge debt of gratitude for helping them back into the 8th spot.

These guys couldn’t make tape to tape and touch passes if their lives depended on it. When they are trying to keep the puck moving on the power play they all have to stop the puck before they can pass or shoot it which really makes it predictable. Better wake up soon and drink Red Bull before every game from here on out or get ready for early April tee times.

As I said once before, this team will make the playoffs this season and give me severe heartburn in the process.

From my viewpoint I see a third seeded team that is 1st in their division by 4 points. They can blow 3 points in the rest of the remaining games and still have home ice advantage in the 1st round against the Devils.

As long as we have quality goaltending, in the playoffs we can still do some serious damage.

This team likes to freak out their fan base, but they still have not broken our hearts.

Like all of the South Florida sports writers are saying
“The Panthers will stumble in to the playoffs”
Well that is better than no playoffs..
Even a broken clock is correct twice a day..
Michael Yormark aka PT Barnum is indeed executive of the year..

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About the author

HARVEY FIALKOV, a tennis-playing sportswriter who grew up in Long Island following the dynastic Islanders, is the new Panthers beat writer for the Sun Sentinel and looking forward to writing about the best professional sports team in Broward County.